Indulge Me! Colour & Packaging
By Tom Kerchiss, RK Print Coat Instruments
A growing subsection within the luxury products and packaging category is the indulgence product sector. For many the term indulgence may imply that items within this group are explicitly ‘For Me,’ or treat products, and while pamper items such as scented candles, spa-treatment products and make up are well represented; so too are products that could be given as gifts for special occasions, for the home or to perhaps improve the general health and well being of family members.
Cosmetics, skin care products and perfume when sold in a high-end retail environment such as a department store generally have set aside dedicated cosmetic aisles or a large area or even a whole shop floor for the marketing of cosmetics, make up and perfumery. Generally items that are displayed in what could be described as a choreographed environment are expensive.
However, there are many instances when products are harder to classify; they are often relatively inexpensive; they may not fit in with existing product line-ups, are not be displayed effectively and they just don’t get the attention they deserve. When sited in a dedicated indulgence aisle with appropriate POS signage, many of the items, which defy conventional classification, sell well.
Unless the browsing consumer has previously seen the product promoted before, for example on television, or has used it before, or been recommended the product, the packaging will play a key role in the purchasing decision making process.
Apart from looking good (which I’ll come to shortly) packaging must convey the essence of the brand. Value for money is often high on the agenda, though with premium branded skin care, and cosmetics where personalisation and exclusivity are involved value for money may not be so important, sensory benefits might be more important. Communicating product promise, clearly signposting whether a product is natural/organic; whether the product and/or the packaging is in any way socially responsible and is made from recyclable or renewable materials or meets other environmental initiatives is as much an objective of labelling or packaging as the actual containment and protection of the product within.
In terms of presentation labelling and on-pack colour can best be described as an interest initiator, providing a consumer with a visual clue as to what the product may be about. A critical element in the most distant of recognition zones, colour can be emotive, drawing the consumer in for closer examination of the product. Colour can serve as a signpost; repeat purchases are often made when a consumer has previously made a positive connection with an indulgent branded product, they then returns to a shop, which may be different outlet and seek the product out from other similar items using the familiar colour cue.
Packaging technologists, marketers and designers need to ensure that the colour and other elements chosen for the label and pack is in keeping with the target audience, and is appropriate for the product itself. For instance premium quality branded indulgence items such as gift boxes containing vouchers for experience days out or for spa products and beauty treatments are often showcased using colours that emotively have been found to enhance the perceived value of the overall product, these colours include black or blue. The former is very much a colour that denotes luxury (so too can its opposite – white). Dark blue is frequently associated with authority and dependability. An additional benefit is that the darker blues are less contentious than many other colours and are generally well received by different age and ethnic groups and by different genders.
On the other hand if a product is meant to be purely a fun item and is directed more towards a younger audience, brighter colour such as yellows, greens and red may be up for consideration. Colours such as yellow are associated with energy, youthfulness and optimism. As with red, yellow is a colour that commands attention. Red, orange and yellow stimulate the senses and the appetite. Because these are the colours of energy and are often far from being subtle they are looked upon by packaging psychologists and marketing gurus as go-getter extrovert and appetite stimulating colours and are used for the promotion of fast-food outlets and for youthful product promotion such as fashion accessories and novelty items.
Colour must be faithfully reproduced along with attendant elements such as text and logo. It is the converting supplier or printer’s role to interpret the designer and marketers concepts in a reproducible and meaningful manner on a variety of packaging mediums and often using different value added and print processes.
Colour matching can sometimes be time consuming and vexing and problems may occur for a variety of reasons. Printing white on clear film for example is a particular problem, even with opaque inks. Most ink colour requires a proportion of light to pass through the ink film and be reflected back to the substrate in order to provide the correct match. If the substrate used absorbs a proportion of the spectrum from the illuminating light, the perceived colour will differ from what the customer expects.
Colour communication devices, proofing or sample preparation systems can be used to ensure that colour targets are met accurately, quickly and with minimal waste. Adjusting ink and determining printability requirements off press using a device such as the FleixProof is an aide to maximising production machine uptime and reducing costs associated with make ready.
Moreover the FlexiProof 100 and variants FlexiProof UV and FlexiProof LED UV can be utilised by every supply chain supplier involved in the production process. In this way quality expectations can be met and outcome documented to make sure every partner, whether ink/resin/additive, substrate producer, etc., obtains the same results. Essential when working to accredited standards and where penalty clauses are in place.
The FlexiProof family of devices are designed for the user and producer of flexographic inks, but of course many organisations may run multi-print processes or have a need for a device that can produce proofs (including laminating samples) for their customers in the converting supply chain.
An invaluable tool in this regard is the K Printing Proofer. Using this device a user can obtain high quality proofs using gravure, gravure-offset or flexo inks. When the K Printing Proofer is fitted with the gravure head and
RK Print Coat Instruments own K-Lam laminating accessories then wet or dry laminating samples can be obtained for comparison purposes.
In conclusion: innovation is considered a key element of this vibrant and relatively new market. Young adults with disposable income may form the core target market but indulgence products correctly positioned cross the age divide. The concept of indulgence, is allowing designers, brand owners and packaging technologist and converters to experiment and take a lateral approach to the ways in which consumers may be attracted to the products. For example, one company is marketing their beauty products aimed at teenage girls in glass bottles with wrap around labels that are designed to look like a schoolroom blackboard with text that takes on the appearance of chalk. Another company is marketing a Mediterranean cheese making kit for foodies. The manufacturers claim that this kit, which includes a thermometer, can turn out mascarpone, mozzarella, ricotta and several other cheeses. The carton pack has a white top half, sea blue bottom half with olives as the key graphic feature.
RK Print Coat Instruments Ltd
Litlington, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 0QZ
www.rkprint.com sales@rkprint.com
Source: RK Print Coat Instruments Ltd
